Where's Renji?
by Storm Alert
Summary: Drabbly thing reflecting on the fact that Byakuya and Renji are always together... Funny, I hope. No pairings, just crackish.  Better than it sounds, I think...


**Little drabbly thing... Well, maybe not _that_ little for a drabble but...**

**Anyways, I've been thinking about this for a while, and I was talking about it with Leaves-In-The-Sand (check out her Naruto stories)! the other day, and since I was bored and stuck for my other story- Hidden Camera, I decided to write it...**

**Right, well for Hidden Camera, I'm so sorry it's been so long =( But I was camping for two weeks without computer access, and I just can't think about anything that Rukia would do when she thinks that nobody's watching! So if anybody has any suggestions, would you tell me?**

**Anywho... hope you enjoy =)**

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><p>Byakuya Kuchiki strode through the streets of the Seireitei, his scarf flapping impressively in the breeze. Although he acted oblivious to the odd looks that he was getting, he really wasn't. People were looking at him as though he had suddenly grown another head, and although he knew that he hadn't, it took all of his impressive self-control not to check. What was wrong? He turned a corner, and was met with more open-mouthed stairs, more disbelieving looks. He hadn't grown a second head, had he? No, he'd notice it if he had, right?<p>

Now he was struggling not to grab the nearest person, shake them violently, and then scream at them, asking what the looks were for. Before then, he had been fairly certain that the people of the Seireitei had gotten used to having a great noble in their midst. Certainly it had been hard starting out… but they had gotten over it. Or, so he'd thought. But really, what were the looks for?

Another turn, more murmurs and sideways glances and raised eyebrows. He sped up, desperate to get to the barracks. He was reaching his tolerance limit, and if people didn't stop looking at him like that _now_, he was going to do something drastic. Preferably involving a lot of shouting. Although he didn't yell often- or really ever, he really did enjoy shouting at people. It was one of the high points of his days, something that reminded him, and the person that he was yelling at, that he wasn't perfect, and he did have a temper.

Just as he was beginning to think almost longingly of being studiously ignored- it was uncomfortable, but not nearly as uncomfortable as this- Tenth division's annoying Vice Captain skipped down the street, saw him, and stopped.

"Captain Kuchiki!" she greeted him. Even she, as rude as she was, didn't dare greet him informally. It was quite lonely, and sometimes, in his darker hours, he wished that somebody would. "Where's Renji?" she asked. He blinked, surprised.

"I don't know." And he didn't. It wasn't as though he tracked his Vice Captain through the Seireitei.

"You don't?"

"No." He could see the others listening. Was this what was wrong? Did everybody just want to know where Renji was? Well there was no need to look at _him_ like that. It hurt a bit though, knowing that all that they wanted to know was where his Vice Captain was. He was there. Did that matter at all?

Probably not. He knew for a fact that he was probably the least liked of all of the Captains- of everybody in the Seireitei It was because he was a noble, and because he was distant, and cold. Not rude, no, never rude. Just... unapproachable. It shouldn't matter to him, but it did, more than anything. Every part of him wished that he was just another one of them, that he wasn't a noble. Then he could be who he wanted to be, not what protocol dictated. But he had been born noble, and he would die noble.

"But… you… he…" Matsumoto was staring at him now, a look of shock on her face that was similar to those around him. What had he done to deserve this? "But he's _always_ with you!" she managed. Byakuya allowed himself a look of confusion. Whatever gave her _that_ idea?

"Don't be ridiculous." He didn't snap at her, but he came close. It was hard, holding onto that thin mask of boredom and indifference, when he wanted to scream, or cry, or sometimes, although it came rarely now, even laugh. He walked around her, careful to give himself space so that he wouldn't brush against her, and this wasn't because he was a noble. Everything about that woman repulsed him, made him try extra hard to keep his distance.

"He is," Matsumoto insisted. She had gotten her voice back now, and was going to use it to its full capabilities. "Whenever you're out, he's one step behind you. Every day all day, until after dark, when you're there, he's there, and when he's there, you're there!" There was some fervent nodding from the onlookers. "All the time, until the day's done and he goes drinking or has fun or something, and nobody actually knows what you do."

Usually stay in the office until well after dark and then go home, sleep for a bit, get up, and go to the office before anybody else had woken up. It was boring, but better than the alternative, which was to go home and cry.

He could feel the people listening, waiting for his response, and all of a sudden he was so tired of being a noble, so tired of all of the pretending. He let the mask slip, just a bit, to show the sarcastic, temperamental man underneath. "Really?" Matsumoto nodded. "Abarai needs to get a life then." And he walked around her again and kept walking, leaving them all behind, staring, their mouths open. Yes. This was even better than yelling at people. In the privacy of his own mind, Byakuya allowed himself a grin. He really should do that more often. The reactions never ceased to amuse him.

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><p><strong>Reviews are appreciated... Hope you liked =)<strong>

**And the next chapter for Hidden Camera will be up soon...ish... I hope so anyways =)**

**Virtual cookies to everybody for reading =)**


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